A criminal case has been initiated in the Moscow region against Vladimir Ishchik, the head of the Staff Department of the Balashikhinskoye Intermunicipal Agency with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The officer solicited money from his subordinates for a total of 445.000 rubles ($7.500) claiming it was needed for remuneration to the Committee members. Ishchik was arrested right when he was receiving the money, as reported by the website of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Moscow Region.

According to investigators, Ishchik summoned one of his subordinates to his office on October 5 and instructed him to collect 5.000 rubles from each of the department employees and give the money personally to him. Ishchik told the man that the money was needed to reward the Committee that would soon have to administer tests and control standards for professional service and physical training.

"Meanwhile, giving the money away was never the man’s intention," the report says.

The officer was detained at the moment the money was being passed to his hands. He was charged under part 1 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code (Exceeding Official Powers). The colonel fully confessed to the crime he had committed. Investigative measures are being carried out to find out the details of what happened.

The Moscow police department made a statement saying that Ishchik would be dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for malfeasance and punished in accordance with the law. His superiors will be disciplined.